Spraying apparatus



July 9, 1957 E. o. NORRIS SPRAYING APPARATUS BY I ORNEY July 9, 1957 Q os 2,798,766

SPRAYING APPARATUS Filed May 16, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR E0 WAR 0Q NORRIS nited States Patent SPRAYING APPARATUS Edward 0. Norris,Westport, Conn. Application May 16, 1956, Serial No. 585,239 1 Claim.(Cl. 299--63) This invention relates to spraying apparatus and moreparticularly to a centrifugal distributor having inherent directionalcharacteristics.

An object of the invention is to provide a rotary distributor which isadapted to eject a spray of material around its entire periphery, but inwhich the major portion of the spray is ejected from a limited angularsegment of the periphery the radial direction of which can be readilycontrolled.

Another object is to tributor which does not for its directional eflect.

Another object is to provide a directional centrifugal distributor whichis open to the spray zone around its entire periphery.

Another object is to provide a rotary centrifugal distributor of theabove type having novel and improved details of construction andfeatures of operation.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent as the nature ofthe invention is more fully disclosed.

The invention will be better understoodby referring to the followingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in whicha specific embodiment thereof has been set forth for purposes ofillustration.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical transverse section through a spray chamber showingthe arrangement therein of a plurality of centrifugal distributorsembodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial section through a distributor embodying the presentinvention taken along the lines 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is an axial section through the distributor and distributorhousing;

Fig. 4 is a partial axial section of a distributor illustrating afurther embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a partial radial section of a distributor illustrating afurther embodiment; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the spray distribution aroundthe periphery of the distributor.

Referring first to Fig. 3 the distributor shown as comprising a rotaryhead 10 having a substantially cylindrical peripheral flange 11terrnining in an outwardly flared conical flange 12. Between the flanges11 and 12 the head 10 is closed by an annular inwardly extending lip 13in which a closure cap 14 is secured by means of a resilient ring 15.

The head 10 is attached by screws 16 to a radial flange 17 which forms apart of a hollow shaft 18 journalled by ball bearings 19 and 20 in afixed housing 21, an annular conical shield 22 is attached to the flange17 by the bolts 16 and surrounds the lower portion of the outerperiphery of the fixed housing 21 to shield the same from the spray. Thehousing 21 is carried on a closure bracket 23 by which it is attached toa wall 24 of the spray chamber to be described. The shaft 18 carries atits upper end (as seen in Fig. 3) a pinion 27 which is driven by aprovide a rotary centrifugal disrequire an external rotary bowl gear 28which is mounted on an external shaft not shown and is driven by anysuitable source of power.

The peripheral flange 11 of the head. 10 is provided with a series ofperipheral slots 30 which are inclined to the axis of the head 10 asshown in Fig. 3 with their lower ends trailing in the direction ofrotation of the distributor, and are also inclined radially as shown inFig. 2 with their outer edges trailing in the direction of rotation ofthe distributor, as indicated by the arrow.

The material to be sprayed is fed through a fixed but adjustable pipe 32which extends through the hollow shaft 18 and is provided at its upperend (as seen in Fig. 3) with a flange 33 which is clamped by a nut 38against a boss 34 on a cap 35 attached by screws 36 to the housing 21.The upper portion of the pipe 32 is formed with a flattened portion 39to receive a wrench for adjusting purposes.

A headed pin 41 having an axial passage 42 is threaded into the lowerend of the fixed pipe 32. A shield 43 is threaded onto the end of thefixed pipe 32 and is provided with a peripheral surface 44 having arunning fit with the corresponding surface of the flange 17 to preventspray liquid from working its way along the hollow shaft 18 to thebearings 20 and 19.

A radial feed pipe 45 is attached to a head 46 which is disposed aroundthe headed pin 41 and is clamped against the shoulder 40 on the shield43. The radial pipe 45 communicates with the passage 42 in the headedpin 41 by a passage 48 in the head 46. The headed pin 41 permits thehead 46 and the feed pipe 45 to be adjusted in any desired angularposition about the axis of the fixed pipe 32.

At its outer end the pipe 45 carries an axially extending nozzle 50having an axial slot 51 disposed adjacent the inner periphery of theflange 11 of the centrifugal spray head 10 and extending axially alongsubstantially the entire axial length of the slots 30 in the flange 11to cause the material to be ejected as a jet toward and into the movingslots 30.

In the operation of the device the material for spraying, such as paint,is fed through pipe 32 under pressure and is forced through the radialpipe 45 and outwardly through the slot in the nozzle 50 onto the innerperiphery of the flange 11. The rotary head 10 is driven at a high speedby the gear 28 so that the material which is forced onto the innerperiphery of the .flange 11 flows over the inner surface and is thrownoutwardly by centrifugal force through the slots 30. The axial andradial inclination of the slots 30 cause the material to be dischargeduniformly thereacross in the form of a spray which extends around theentire 360 of the periphery of the rotating hood. The radial inclinationalso tends to reduce the noise.

As shown in the distribution chart of Fig. 6 at least 50% of the totalquantity of the material is discharged from the rotating head 19 in thefirst following the position of the pipe 50. The remainder of thematerial is discharged from the other 270 of the periphery. Hence thematerial is directed substantially in the direction shown by the arrow55 in Fig. 6 and the direction can be altered as desired by varying theposition of the feed pipe 45 and the discharge slot 51 around the axisof the distributor.

When the distributor is rotated at high speed the conical flange 12serves to create an air current having an axial component in thedownward direction which causes the spray from the distributor to fanout in an axial direction, thereby increasing the spray area. Also anyspray particles or mist which may be present in the air around thedistributor on which may be collected on the inner peripheral surface ofthe flange 12 are throw outwardly therefrom, thereby effectively freeingthe air from such particles.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4 the distributor head 10a is of thegeneral form of distributor head 10 described above. In Fig. 4 howeverthe flange 11a slopes inwardly in a downward direction to a horizontallip 13a in which the cover 14a is seated. The slots 30a in the flange11a of Fig. 4 slope axially and radially as described above inconnection with the slots 30 in Fig. 3. The slots 30a of Fig. 4 howeverhave a radial as well as an axial component due to the slope of theflange 11a which assists in distributing the spray material axially ofthe distributor and in producing a fan-shaped spray.

The embodiment of Fig. is similar to Fig. 4 except that a conical flange12a is provided below the flange 11a and the feed tube 45a of Fig. 5extends in a downwardly inclined direction with the nozzle 50a extendingupwardly therefrom toward the larger diameter portion of the flange 11a.This arrangement of the feed pipe causes the spray material to flow bycentrifugal force toward the larger diameter portion of the flange 11aand to be evenly distributed through the slots 30a as above described.

Fig. 1 shows a spray chamber for spraying a pipe 60 as it is advancedthrough the chamber supported on double coned rollers 68. The spraychamber of Fig. 1 comprises end walls 24 through which pipe 60 passesand outer Walls 61 having hinged top walls 62 which slope at an anglegreater than 45 degrees so that any spray material which collects on theinner surface of the wall 62 flows downwardly along the inner surfaceaway from the path of the pipe 60 without dripping onto the pipe. Theoversprayed material is collected in a sump 63 at the bottom of thechamber, from which it is removed by a drain pipe 64. The pipe 60 feedsinto the chamber through a vestibule 65 having top walls 66 which slopeat an angle similar to the walls 62 above described. The chamber may beof the general type shown in my Patent No. 2,734,479, dated February 14,1956. Four spray heads are shown as disposed on the transverse wall atthe exit end of the spray chamber with their flanges 12 facing counterto the direction of .4 travel of the pipe 60 for the purpose ofdeflecting the spray in a direction counter to the direction of travelof the objects being sprayed so as to minimize the carry out of thespray. A flexible closure is preferably installed around the entranceopening to minimize direct escape of spray particles. The nozzles ineach of the spray heads 10 are so adjusted that the major portion of thespray produced therefrom is directed against the periphery of the pipe60, thereby reducing the amount of oversprayed material which strikesthe walls of the chamber.

It is to be understood of course that the oversprayed material collectedand withdrawn through the drain pipe 64 may be recycled and resprayed.The pipe is of course advanced continuously through the spray chamber orarticles to be sprayed may be fed through the spray chamber on aconveyor as shown in my previous patent above mentioned.

What is claimed is: V

A spray device comprising a fixed casing, a hollow shaft mounted forrotation therein, a head carried by said shaft having a peripheral wallprovided with openings spaced therearound through which material issprayed, a fixed feed pipe for said spray material disposed within saidhollow shaft, a nozzle communicating with the end of said feed pipewithin said rotating head, said nozzle having a discharge openingdisposed adjacent the inner peripheral surface of said head inregistration with said first openings to discharge the spray materialfrom said nozzle directly into said first openings for spraying wherebythe major portion of the spray material is sprayed outwardly in alimited peripheral segment around said head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,238,364 Hall Apr. 15, 1941 2,473,035 Meade et al June 14, 1949 FOREIGNPATENTS 438,390 Germany Dec. 17, 1929

